Condolence
by Maivry
Summary: After a fight with Sokka, Toph vents through earthbending. The commotion catches the attention of a friend who understands her situation all too well. Tokka and Kataang oneshot.


A/N: This story was written in May 2008, before the series finished airing. I'm finally publishing my Tokka fanfiction on here for the first time, so I hope you'll enjoy.

* * *

**Title:** Condolence

**Setting:** The day after _The Runaway_.

**Viewpoint:** Toph

* * *

"How could you?"

Three rocks of identical size rammed into the ground in quick succession. They reemerged behind me, and I brought them to hover above my head.

_"It was our only option! What did you want me to do, tell her no?"_

My raised hands fell quickly to my sides, and the rocks sped to _thunk_ into the ground, forming a perfect triangle.

_"You could have asked."_

I figured that if I didn't get over this soon, my accuracy was going to be twice as good by the time most of the afternoon heat was past.

Not that anyone would notice.

_"It's just a stupid bird."_

I stomped my foot impulsively. Instead of creating another impeccable attack, the ground shattered beneath me. I stumbled.

_"It's just a stupid letter!"_

I was on my knees, but didn't feel like getting up. So I punched the ground. Columns formed and rearranged themselves. That was good. I was calm enough to control them properly.

_"Well, I'm sorry if you don't think it was important enough-_"

I raised my hand, lifting them into the air. They connected, creating arches...

_"I didn't mean it like that, Toph."_

...and then they fell.

They created a resounding _thud_. It reverberated all the way back to camp, creating a clear image of everyone else in my mind.

I drew my knees towards my chest and leaned on them, swaying slightly back and forth.

So we exchanged a few choice words last night, so what? _He_ didn't act like he remembered them. But I did.

A pair of footsteps approached my little arena. I sighed and got to my feet, continuing my practice. But I wasn't really paying attention.

"Toph, you okay?" came a tentative voice.

"Of course I'm okay, Twinkletoes," I said, a little sharper than he really deserved. "You can go away now."

"Really?" he asked, his voice gaining a little strength. "Because I was just practicing seeing with my feet, like you suggested, and you seemed to be acting a little unusual over here, and with all the noise, well..."

"That's nice," I said unenthusiastically, dropping what I was doing. "I'm glad you're practicing."

He straightened up, his airy pose changing to a more solid stance. I grimaced.

"Okay, now I _know_ something is up," he accused. "You don't sound like yourself."

"Are you sure?" I asked, tilting up my head. "My hearing's better than yours, and I sound perfectly fine to me."

"That's not what I meant!" he said quickly, clearly taken aback.

"I'm glad you could figure that out." I continued directing rocks at imaginary targets.

He was silent for a moment, but I could tell he was hunching his shoulders.

His stance became firm again.

"Toph, I'm your friend," he said sternly. "I'm just trying to help."

"With what, exactly?"

"Uhm..." he mumbled, slumping a little. "With... Sokka?"

I finally turned around to give him my full attention. "And what exactly does that imply?"

"He got mad at you." He crossed his arms. "And you kind of got mad back, but then you seemed upset. Now you're _still_ upset."

"How do you know they have anything to do with each other?" I asked pointedly.

"Toph, I'm not blind," he retorted.

"Geez, like I haven't noticed?"

"Uhh," he said, clearly abashed. "No, I mean, I've been _noticing_ how you've been acting lately. Around Sokka."

Now it was my turn to feel embarrased. I turned my face away. "Yeah, and...?"

"Well, I, uhm," he said, and I could hear him scratch his hair. "It seems kind of like you're feeling bad about last night."

"I don't do 'feeling bad,'" I informed him firmly.

"Aha!" he cried, putting one steady foot forward. "I was paying attention to your heartbeat. I think that was a lie."

I narrowed my eyes, half-heartedly wishing I hadn't introduced him to the basics of detecting lies. _Well then_, I thought, beginning to pace around him, causing additional vibrations. _I won't let this be easy for him_.

"So what if it was?" I asked him.

"Honestly, Toph." He sighed, actually sounding exasperated. "I mean it, I'm just trying to help. I think he said something that hurt you."

I turned to the side, drawing up a boulder and sending it off towards a hillside. Thinking. _Well, maybe... this was Aang_. Maybe talking to him would be the right thing to get out of my mood.

"He cared more about that stupid bird than me," I muttered.

"Um," Aang said, distracting me from my thoughts. He sounded like he wasn't sure he was supposed to hear what I said. Even I wasn't sure if he was supposed to. "Well, it makes sense, you know."

"Thanks a lot," I said, clenching my hands into fists as my arms dropped to my side.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," he stated factually. "I mean that when you sent Hawky away, Hawky wasn't there. But you were. Just think about it - I'm sure he'd be much more upset if Hawky sent _you_ away."

"What?" I laughed, I couldn't help it. "Twinkletoes, how on earth does _that_ make sense?"

He sighed, and scratched his head again. "He just got Hawky, okay? But he takes you for granted. I don't think it means he likes Hawky more."

"Ah, I see," I said bitterly. "I always knew that. I'm this powerful tool that'll always be around when he's in need of some metalbending, or someone who can tell the difference between a lie and the truth. Good ol' Toph," I added caustically, emphasizing my words with some earthbending moves, pounding the ground with some pent-up frustration.

His hand reached out to my shoulder and forced me to face him. I resisted a little, and he might not have succeeded if he hadn't been earthbending so much lately.

"I'm sure he's not like that at all," he told me seriously. "You're always doing stuff together. _Fun_ stuff. That has nothing to do with your bending."

"Easy for you to say," I said, brushing off his arm. "What do you know?"

"I know that, 'Love is hard when you're young,'" he said sagely.

I slapped his shoulder, backing away and feeling the heat come to my face. "Where'd you get a stupid idea like that?"

"I made it up," he said, his signature grin in his voice. "At least, I think I did. Roku said it."

"So that's, what, advice from two Avatars at once?" I stuck out my tongue. "About love, of _all_ things."

"Well, yeah, why not? You're good at everything else-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion," I said quickly, feeling my blush return. "Whoever said that was my problem?"

"I told you, I've been noticing things," he said cheekily. "And you're all red, so that's got to mean something."

"I wouldn't know," I said, narrowing my eyes. "I don't know what red is."

"I wish you'd stop dodging the point," he said, sighing again. Then he laughed. "I mean, you're acting like me. Like an airbender!"

If I had thought he couldn't make me feel worse, he'd just disproved me. I turned away from him altogether, crossing my arms.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, Aang," I said, trying my best to make it sound _final_.

His hand touched my shoulder again. "Toph, you're making it sound like I don't understand."

"Of course you don't," I started vehemently, then stopped. I faced him, my brow pinched. "Well, actually... I guess you would."

"Yeah..." he said, drawing out the word. His hair received an extra long scratch. "So you know, too?"

I snorted. "You think I wouldn't? Hello?" I knocked my fist on his head. "I notice a _lot_ more than you seeing people."

He cringed away and rubbed his head. "Fine. So now both our secrets are out."

I didn't even want to admit that I had a secret that could get out. But he was trying to help. And, well, Katara and Sokka...

They were so similar.

That made Aang and me similar.

I sat down, pulling at the scant grass and shifting dirt through my fingers, and Aang sat down beside me.

"So, how have you been handling it?" I asked airily. If, well, being like _this_ required acting like an airbender, perhaps I should give it a chance to sort itself out.

"Oh, you know," he said, laughing a little. "I try to talk to her about it, and, well, it hardly ever turns out the way I intended. Something always gets in the way, and then I feel all, well..."

I chuckled, remembering a time or two I'd interrupted him when he was trying to be mushy. But my humor died, as I felt a little bad for him. Back then I didn't care very much, but now I was in his shoes.

_I've never liked shoes_.

"You need to buck up, Twinkletoes," I told him sternly, thankful that at least I didn't have that fault. "What do you expect her to do, scorn you for life? You and Katara do _everything_ together."

"Well, so do you and Sokka," he pointed out timidly.

I turned my face away. "That's different. Katara... Katara isn't _attached_." I stuck out my tongue at the last word.

"She _has_ been," he said morosely. "And, well, I guess I can just say I understand."

"Pfft," I breathed dismissively. "You talking about Jet? Like that counts for anything. Katara still _likes_ you."

He straightened up, setting his hands on the ground. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, I do," I said, leaning on my knees. "And I'd like to know how you manage it."

"Well, we've always connected well. I like to think she, you know, likes me because of me," he said brightly. "But it doesn't hurt that I love giving her stuff. You know. Like this one time she lost her necklace and I - I made her a new one. And compliments. I mean, how can I not compliment her? She's so amazing! I like to help her whenever I can. I guess I give her a lot of stuff without even noticing..."

I chuckled into my hand as he spoke, thankful that I wasn't so, um, obvious. But maybe that's what made the difference between us. I thought back on how I tended to treat Sokka, and frowned.

"So, basically you want me to act lovesick?" I asked drily. "Certainly sounds like my style."

"Well, that was uncalled for," he muttered, no doubt not intending me to hear it. "No. You should just do something nice for Sokka."

I snorted, playing with a handful of torn grass. Perhaps it wasn't such a... bad idea. Actually, it was kind of surprising Sokka hung around me as much as he did, considering what I _did_ do to him...

_"That reminds me. Toph, I thought you might like this..."_

I smiled at the memory and ducked my head in case Aang was paying attention. And I resisted the urge to bring out my meteor bracelet and play with it. That would probably give Twinkletoes the idea that I was as hopelessly sentimental as he was. There was no way I'd ever let that impression get out.

"Are you smiling about Sokka?"

He sounded confused at the idea. I glowered. "No, of course not," I said, deciding to let him figure out for himself if I was being sarcastic or not.

"You know, I can't say I get it," he said, tilting his head. "I mean, Sokka's my friend, and I like him well enough. But, why him?"

I straightened up, my eyes narrowed at the implication. "Look here, Twinkletoes," I said, tilting up my chin. "I didn't ask _you_ what possessed you to like Katara."

"But that makes perfect sense to me," he protested. "She's beautiful and kind, supportive, so persistent with her bending, perceptive-"

I clapped my hand over his mouth in an attempt to shut him up. "See, that's _why_ I didn't ask."

I could feel a smile begin to form as I took my hand away. "So, Sokka's the same for you?"

"Maybe," I said reluctantly. I could name plenty of things to admire in Sokka. There were... a lot. But I still wasn't fond of the idea of acting like Twinkletoes the Airbender.

_"Just get out of here. Run._"

He thought of me.

In fact, maybe he even thought of me a lot. I shook my head.

"Say," Aang continued after a comfortable silence. "Are you feeling better about earlier? You know, the argument?"

"Maybe," I said again, leaning back on my palms. "Actually, I don't know. I kind of feel guilty for borrowing his bird without permission."

"Didn't you apologize already?" he asked, perplexed.

"No." I hunched my shoulders.

"Then you probably should," he told me, matter-of-fact.

"What, now?" I bit my lip. "But what would he think?"

"I dunno," he said, shrugging. "He'd probably appreciate it."

_Fine._ "I'll think about it."

We shared a few moments of companionable silence. I had to admit I felt better. Sharing some of my frustrations with someone who understood - no matter how different he was - was refreshing.

"Thanks, Aang," I said after a time. I gave his shoulder a shove. Not a punch, because I knew that'd knock him over. "For sharing."

"No problem, Toph," he said, with his customary grin, once he'd recovered.

* * *

"Sokka, I want to apologize for last night..."

"What?"

"Last night. For using Hawky without permission...?"

"Oh yeah. But that was all Katara's fault."

"What?"

"She always does stuff like that to me! I know you would have asked if she hadn't gotten involved."

"Sure... Sokka..."

He patted my shoulder, and I couldn't help but smile. It was that easy? He didn't even blame me?

_So_, I thought, sitting down beside him for dinner. _Do something nice for Sokka?_

I'll think about it.


End file.
